Chapter 96: The Sa World
There were far too many outsiders flooding into the village.
Retired martial artists living in the village, instructors, and even bandits who were currently staying in the main fortress all ca out to help, but it was still not enough.
Most of those who had gathered wore shabby clothes and were so emaciated from hunger that they looked skeletal.
Quite a few of them were in such terrible shape that they hardly looked human, as if they had endured endless hardships while traveling all the way from where they once lived to the foothills of the Heavenly Mountains at the far edge of Xinjiang.
Among them, the Guardian Venerable who was directing the Bright Cult mbers noticed Yul Han and hurried over.
“You have arrived?”
“You have worked hard. There are more people than I expected.”
“They ca from many places. So even ca from Hunan. It is thanks to the generous amount of ti we allowed before the examination date.”
As the Guardian Venerable said, it had already been several months since the Bright Cult’s proclamations had been posted across various regions.
They had allowed ample ti, taking into account those who could not use lightness skills and had to travel with children.
The problem was that this also led to unforeseen situations.
“Who are those people?”
When the Guardian Venerable turned his gaze toward where Yul Han was looking, he smiled bitterly.
“They are applicants.”
“Those people?”
Understanding Yul Han’s surprise, the Guardian Venerable replied,
“They are old.”
“I see. As far as I rember, we clearly wrote in the proclamation that applicants were limited to children aged ten or younger.”
“They know that too. They know they are far too old to learn martial arts.”
“And yet they still applied.”
“They are just insisting that we use them at least as laborers. It ans that there are that many starving children. It does not sit well with my heart.”
They were people who could not bring themselves to sell themselves as slaves, so they had walked a long distance hoping to be taken in as laborers instead.
Looking at them, Yul Han asked,
“Is there anywhere we can use them?”
At Yul Han’s question, the Guardian Venerable silently shook his head.
“…….”
Even if he wanted to help, there was simply no work to hire them for.
They were already employing a considerable number of cult mbers in the main fortress. There was no leeway to hire additional people.
Even the bandits who had followed Yul Han to the main fortress, along with their families, were unable to find work.
In such a situation, they could not bring more people into the main fortress.
Seeing the Guardian Venerable’s regret, Yul Han spoke.
“If there is none, then let us make so.”
“How…?”
“Let us build a village for now. I saw that the main fortress warehouses are full of construction materials. Let us use those.”
“Those are ant to be used to repair the main fortress in ergencies. As far as I know, they were stockpiled over the years after being requisitioned from the Eighteen Demonic Sects.”
What the Guardian Venerable said was correct.
The Bright Cult did not receive only rice from the Eighteen Demonic Sects under the pretext of protection fees.
They received all kinds of supplies, including construction materials.
This was partly to repair places that collapsed or deteriorated over ti, but also as preparation for situations like the Great Ma Baek War thirty years ago, when orthodox martial artists from the Central Plains invaded all the way to the Heavenly Mountains.
If battles broke out in the Heavenly Mountains, construction materials would be needed to repair the main fortress after it was burned or collapsed during sieges.
Orthodox sects occupying the resource-rich heart of the Central Plains could simply purchase what they needed when the ti ca, but Qinghai and Xinjiang were different.
The amount of goods produced in a year was limited.
Therefore, the Bright Cult included the construction materials they needed in the annual protection fees collected from the Eighteen Demonic Sects.
That was how they had accumulated construction materials year after year.
Because of that, the warehouses of the Bright Cult were overflowing with piled-up materials.
Even though a considerable amount had been consud over the past few months to repair places damaged by ti, the stock was so vast that it barely made a dent.
After all, since thirty years ago, the Bright Cult had lived an extrely “peaceful” life, so there had been no occasion to use large quantities of materials.
In other words, they kept stockpiling without ever using them.
Yul Han was suggesting that they take out those materials now and build a village.
“It is possible if we have the Cult Leader’s permission, but what do you plan to do afterward?”
“Let us start first. If we do not even begin, nothing will change.”
Looking into the sparkling eyes of the Vice Cult Leader, the Guardian Venerable could tell that he had another plan in mind.
“I understand. I will imdiately submit this to the Cult Leader—”
“I will get the permission myself. Please select the laborers.”
“If you do that, I would be grateful. Ah! May I select from among the families of the bandit friends staying in the main fortress as well?”
“Of course. If needed, bring even the bandits themselves to work. I did not allow them to accompany us just so they could eat and do nothing.”
At Yul Han’s reply, the Guardian Venerable smiled faintly.
“Understood. I will use them without restraint.”
Yul Han smiled back at the Guardian Venerable’s exaggerated words.
These days, the Guardian Venerable felt that the Vice Cult Leader’s smile had grown much more natural.
---
After hearing Yul Han’s report from his visit to the mountain foot village, the Cult Leader replied indifferently.
“Use them. It is better than letting them rot away unused. But will building villages really solve anything? The grain consumption is increasing too rapidly. The Strategist looks like he is about to die from it.”
The Vice Cult Leader glanced at the Strategist, who was standing at a distance with a bitter smile, and replied,
“That is why I want to build even more villages.”
“I do not understand what you an.”
“I am thinking of trying agriculture.”
“Here? Is there even anything that can grow?”
The cold of the Heavenly Mountains was infamous. The land near them was barren, and crops did not grow well.
Looking at all of Xinjiang, it was not a particularly good environnt for farming.
Xinjiang did not have a small population or frequent famines for no reason.
The Cult Leader, who could not imagine Yul Han being ignorant of this, looked at him in puzzlent.
Yul Han replied,
“There is a place called Aksu about a hundred li away from the mountain foot village.”
“You an governnt land.”
“Yes. I heard that during the Han and Tang dynasties, the imperial army built large-scale irrigation facilities there and developed military farms.”
“It was a place that fed hundreds of thousands of Western Expedition troops. But you want to use it? I believe there are still governnt troops stationed there.”
“There were about ten or so.”
“Did you see them? Even though they look shabby, they belong to the Embroidered Uniform Guard. That shows how important the governnt considers that land.”
“It was being looted countless tis by local horse bandits.”
“They do not kill them, though. Even the bandits know that killing them would make things far bigger.”
That was why they only stole a small amount of food and left. If it were not a Great Famine like the present, they would not have even bothered looking at the place.
In any case, since it was a military post, supplies continued to be delivered.
In other words, to the bandits, it was like a food warehouse oasis that refilled itself every ti they looted it.
Knowing this situation as well, Yul Han spoke with a puzzled expression.
“I could not understand it. Leaving farmland of that scale lying idle at a ti like this. According to the records, it was a military farm with quite a high level of food production.”
“It is rare fertile land in Xinjiang. Because the rivers fed by the perennial snowlt of the Heavenly Mountains were damd to create a water source, there was no worry about water even during droughts.”
“I went there myself, and the irrigation facilities were impressive. They said it was built hundreds of years ago, but it was constructed so well that it could still be used with only minor repairs.”
“That is because it was not built by the Han people, but by the Eastern Yi.”
“The Eastern Yi?”
“They say it was built during the Tang dynasty by a general nad Go Seonji, a descendant of Goguryeo, who mobilized Goguryeo-descended soldiers under his command. The Eastern Yi are well known for their craftsmanship.”
“I did not know that. I only thought it was well built because the condition was excellent. So there was such a background.”
“In any case, that is all ancient history. Even if it has been left abandoned, it is best not to ddle with governnt property. There are reasons we have left it alone all this ti.”
“I understand that you are concerned about governnt intervention.”
“It sounds like you intend to do it anyway, knowing that?”
In response to the Cult Leader’s worried question, Yul Han answered,
“There are too many people who must be kept alive, and there is nowhere else to obtain more food. If it does not exist, then we have to create it.”
At Yul Han’s answer, the Cult Leader asked,
“May I ask why you are so intent on saving them?”
“That sounds as though you are saying they do not need to be saved.”
“That is right. I am wondering if there is any need to save them.”
“Why is that?”
“Because it is not our responsibility.”
Yul Han looked at him for a mont after that reply, then spoke.
“I want to step out into the wider world. To do that, I need power.”
“You an to expand your faction?”
“Yes.”
“And what do you intend to do with that power?”
“The Demonic World Under Heaven. It is the dream of our Bright Cult, and it is my dream.”
The Cult Leader gazed steadily at Yul Han, who answered without hesitation, then nodded.
“If that is the case… I give my permission. Do everything you want to try.”
“Thank you, Senior Brother.”
After Yul Han bowed and left, the Strategist, who had been standing silently in the corner, finally opened his mouth.
“The Demonic World Under Heaven he speaks of will not be the Demonic World Under Heaven we imagine.”
“Of course it will not be.”
At the Cult Leader’s reply, the Strategist asked,
“If you know that, why did you give your permission?”
“What difference does it make?”
“How can there be no difference? If the internal details beco known, the martial artists within the cult will surely push back—”
“Who would dare oppose anything that boy does? If there is such a bastard, I will twist his head off myself. So it is fine.”
“Hah. You cannot block everything by yourself.”
“I can. And if I cannot, I will block it even in death.”
“So rather than the Demonic World Under Heaven, you want the Vice Cult Leader’s world.”
“To , they are the sa. If our Hani is happy, I am fine with anything. If that can cover even a little of the wound I carved into that boy’s chest, then that alone is enough for .”
The incident fifteen years ago had left deep scars not only on the Vice Cult Leader, but also on the Cult Leader.
Looking at him, the Strategist could only let out a deep sigh.
“Haaah….”
---
With the Guardian Venerable at its center, the Guardian Division hired a massive workforce and began building yet another large village below the mountain foot settlent.
After releasing construction materials and food from the main fortress for that work, Yul Han soon left the Bright Cult, taking several close aides with him.
His destination was Aksu.
Staring distantly at the earthen fortress where governnt banners fluttered, Iron Demon asked Yul Han—whose eyes were flashing coldly—,
“Surely you are not planning to kill the governnt troops?”
“Why, is that not allowed?”
“It is not that it is forbidden, but in broad daylight like this… there are many eyes watching.”
“In this barren wasteland, I do not see a single civilian dwelling.”
At Yul Han’s words, Iron Demon shrugged.
“Sotis, things you cannot see are the ones watching. So let us do it after the sun sets beyond the western hills. At that ti, sending just that Profound Demon fellow over there would be enough to clean it up quietly.”
ntioned out of the blue, Profound Demon widened his eyes in surprise.
Before he could say anything, the Rujok warrior chief, Pageuk, who stood beside him, stepped forward.
“I will do it. I can go and slaughter them all—”
“I do not intend to spill blood.”
At Yul Han’s voice cutting him off, Pageuk asked with widened eyes,
“You just said you would kill them…?”
“That was Iron Demon’s idea, not mine.”
At those words, Iron Demon stepped forward with a wronged expression.
“Then you have another plan?”
“I intend to receive the land without spilling blood.”
“The land…?”
“Receive it?”
Confusion filled the faces of Iron Demon and Profound Demon, who could not grasp Yul Han’s words.
User Comments
0 comments from readers